New Cambria
New Cambria is an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. The country comprises a main landmass, called New Cambria Island, five smaller nearby islands and numerous smaller islands and islets, situated some 500km due east of the Labrador Peninsula. New Cambria has a combined land area of 41,508 km2, and an estimated 2015 population of 902,500. New Cambria Island comprises 82 percent of the country's land area and is home to 97 percent of its population. New Cambria's capital and largest city, Arvant, is home to almost 40 percent of the country's population. Avant is the seat of government, home to the General Assembly of New Cambria, and the highest court in the country, the New Cambria Court of Appeal. A former English (later British) colony and dominion of the United Kingdom, New Cambria assumed full sovereign status and Commonwealth membership on January 1, 1950. Etymology The name New Cambria is derived from Cambria, the Latin term for Wales. Initially, the island was called "New Wales" and "New Cambria" interchangeably, however "New Wales" was also in use as the term for the lands on the western shore of Hudson Bay. By 1631, "New Cambria" became the preferred name for the island. "New Wales" eventually fell into obscurity until 257 years later, with the founding of New South Wales in New Holland (present-day Australia). Geography New Cambria Island is roughly triangular in shape. Its northern and western shores are dotted with dozens of natural harbours, around which the county's major urban centers have sprung up. On the eastern coast of the island, cliffs rise out of the sea, the highest of which measure over 180 meters. Avant, New Cambria's capital city, is located at the same approximate latitude as Belfast, Gdansk and Moscow. On the summer solstice, Arvant experiences over 17 hours of daylight, compared with just seven hours on the winter solstice. Large portions of New Cambria Islands and her sister isles remain uninhabited. Climate New Cambria is home to a variety of climates and weather. One of the main reasons for this diversity is the geography of the country. In broad terms, New Cambria has a cool summer subtype of a humid continental climate, which is greatly influenced by the sea, since no part of the country is more than 100 km from the ocean. The sea keeps winter temperatures slightly higher and summer temperatures a little lower on the coast than at places inland. The maritime climate produces more variable weather, ample precipitation, greater humidity, lower visibility, more clouds, less sunshine, and higher winds than a continental climate. The warmest temperature ever recorded in the country was 35.9 degrees Celsius (96.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on 24 July 1929. The coldest ever recorded temperature was -34.5 degrees Celsius (-30.1 degrees Fahrenheit) on 16 February 1970. History Pre-colonisation European contact Colony of New Cambria Dominion of New Cambria Full independence and Commonwealth status Politics See article: Political history of New Cambria Government New Cambria is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Cambria and the head of state. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Governor-General can exercise the Crown's prerogative powers, such as reviewing cases of injustice and making appointments of ministers, ambassadors, and other key public officials, and in rare situations, the reserve powers (e.g., the power to dissolve the parliament or refuse the Royal Assembly of a bill into law). The powers of the Queen and the Governor-General are limited by constitutional constraints and they cannot normally be exercised without the advice and consent of Cabinet. The General Assembly of New Cambria, commonly called the Parliament, holds legislative power and consists of the Queen and two houses: the Legislative Council (upper house) and the House of Assembly (lower house). The supremacy of Parliament, over the Crown and other government institutions, was established in England by the Bill of Rights 1689 and has been ratified as law in New Cambria. The House of Assembly has 80 members, called MHAs. It is democratically elected and a Government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of seats. If no majority is formed, a minority government can be formed if other parties pledge support on confidence and supply. The Legislative Council consists of 40 appointed members, called MLCs, and serves as a revising chamber to the House of Assembly. The Governor-General appoints ministers under advice from the Prime Minister, who is by convention the parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. Cabinet, formed by ministers and led by the Prime Minister, is the highest policy-making body in government and responsible for deciding significant government actions. By conventions, members of cabinet are bound by collective responsibility to decisions made by cabinet. All general elections up to 1951 were held under the first-past-the-post voting system. Between 1900 and 1960, the elections were dominated by two parties: Labour and United. Since the 1955 election, a form of proportional representation called single transferable voting (STV) has been used. Under the STV system the country is divided into multi-member constituencies, and electors rank the candidates in their constituency in order of preference. Since the 2011 election, there have been fifteen multi-member constituencies, each electing between three and seven members. Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and under strict rules regarding tenure to help maintain constitutional independence from the government. This theoretically allows the judiciary to interpret the law based solely on the legislation enacted by the Parliament without other influences on their decisions. The Privy Council in London was the country's final court of appeal until 2013, when it was replaced by the newly established Supreme Court of New Cambria. The judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice, includes the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and subordinate courts. Foreign relations and the military Early colonial New Cambria allowed the British government to determine external trade and be responsible for foreign policy. The 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Cambria should be allowed to negotiate their own political treaties. On 10 September 1939, New Cambria allied itself with Britain and declared war on Germany. After World War II, the United Kingdom became increasingly focused on its European interests. New Cambria's fellow dominions Australia and New Zealand allied with the United States in the ANZUS security treaty, and Newfoundland voted for confederation with Canada. New Cambria's small size amongst two powerful neighbours has meant the country's foreign policy is inextricably tied to that of the United States and Canada. New Cambria was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945, and joined NATO in 1960. In the present day, New Cambria's ties with its fellow Commonwealth realms remains close. As of 2015, there are 15,000 Canadians and 9,000 Britons living in New Cambria. About 90,000 New Cambrian citizens live in Canada. The New Cambrian Armed Forces are the unified armed forces of New Cambria. This unified institution consists of sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal New Cambrian Navy (RNCN), New Cambrian Army, and Royal New Cambrian Air Force (RNCAF). Personnel may belong to either the Regular Force or the Reserve Force, which has four sub-components: the Primary Reserve, Supplementary Reserve, Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service, and the New Cambrian Rangers. The New Cambrian Armed Forces are an entity separate and distinct from the Ministry of National Defense, which is the government department responsible for administration and formation of defense policy and exists as the civilian support system for the Forces. The Commander-in-Chief of the New Cambrian Armed Forces is the reigning New Cambrian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor General of New Cambria. The New Cambrian Armed Forces is led by the Chief of the Defense Staff, who is advised and assisted by the Armed Forces Council. New Cambria's national defense needs are modest, because of the unlikelihood of direct attack, although it does have a global presence. The country fought in both world wars, with notable campaigns in the Battle of the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Low Countries. During World War II, the United States had more than 75,000 American military personnel stationed in New Cambria. In addition to Vietnam and the two world wars, New Cambria fought in the Korean War, the Gulf War, and the Afghanistan War. It has contributed to several regional and global peacekeeping missions, such as those in Cyprus, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Angola, Cambodia, Bougainville, and the Solomon Islands. Local government From 1612 to 1730, Proprietary Governors were appointed to establish colonial settlements on New Cambria, as England tried to create North American footholds. Each settlement had its own governor until 1646, when Matthew Kirk was made governor over all of New Cambria. New Cambria was made a Crown Colony in 1845, and the Act establishing the colony divided the island into three provinces–St. George's, St. David's and Trinity–which had a degree of autonomy. Because of financial pressures and the desire to consolidate railways, education, land sales and other policies, government was centralised and the provinces were abolished in 1880. As a result, New Cambria now has no separately represented subnational entitles. Since 1880, various councils have administered local areas under legislation determined by the central government. In 1992, the government reorganized local government into the current two-tier structure of ten regional councils and 65 local government areas (LGAs). The regional councils' roles are to regulate the natural environment with particular emphasis on resources management, while the LGAs are responsible for sewage, water, local roads, building consents and other local matters. One of the LGAs, the City of Arvant, is a unitary authority, which also acts as a regional council. The LGAs consist of four city councils and 61 district councils. Category:Nations Category:Countries Category:New Cambria